Automatic sheet processing device having tiltable collecting tray adjacent corner binder station

ABSTRACT

An automatic sheet processing device is adapted to be mounted to the sheet outputting portion of an image forming apparatus which outputs sheets one after another and used to receive the sheets successively output from the sheet outputting apparatus, automatically align the received sheets to one another, and then automatically bind the bundle of aligned sheets. 
     The automatic sheet processing device comprises a sheet collecting tray rockably supported for receiving sheets output from a sheet outputting apparatus, tray rocking means for selectively changing over the tray to a first posture in which it is capable of receiving the output sheets from the sheet outputting apparatus and a second posture which is more steeply inclined than the first posture and in which it causes the bundle of sheets to be discharged out of the tray, sheet aligning means for aligning the sheets successively discharged into and piled in the tray in the first posture, binding means for binding the bundle of aligned sheets in the tray after a predetermined number of sheets has been output into the tray from the sheet outputting apparatus, and drive means for operating the tray rocking means on the basis of the operation completion signal of the binding means to change over the tray to the second posture.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of the applicant's co-pendingapplications Ser. No. 628,297 filed July 6, 1984 and entitled SHEETCOLLECTING TRAY DEVICE, now abandoned and Ser. No. 633,271 filed July23, 1984, now abandoned and entitled AUTOMATIC SHEET PROCESSING DEVICE.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an automatic sheet processing device adaptedto be mounted to the sheet outputting portion of an image formingapparatus such as a printing apparatus, a simple printing apparatus orother apparatus which outputs sheets (leaves such as cut sheets, cardsand thin boards) one after another and used to receive the sheetssuccessively output from the sheet outputting apparatus, automaticallyalign the received sheets to one another, and then automatically bindthe bundle of aligned sheets (by stapling or starching).

2. Description of the Prior Art

Automatic sheet processing devices of this type are effective torationalize office work, and various devices of such type have alreadybeen proposed (for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No.99548/1975, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 119047/1978, etc.)and some of them have been put into practical use. Generally, however,these devices according to the prior art are bulky, complicated,expensive ones for use in combination with special, high-class sheetoutputting apparatuses of specific types and cannot be used in readycombination with popular copying apparatuses, for example, and thus,they have lacked in versatility.

For example, the device disclosed in Japanese Laid-open PatentApplication No. 119047/1978 is of a structure in which the copyfinishing device (the sheet processing device) is contained in a copyingapparatus. Further, this device is provided with an eccentric pushingdevice adapted to push the side surface and rear surface of sheetsdischarged into the tray of the sheet processing device and align thesheets, but is not provided with means for preventing floating up orcurling of sheets. Furthermore, in this device, when the documentbinding operation is completed, the pamphlet is grasped by a jawactuated by a compressed air cylinder and the pamphlet is dischargedfrom the tray by pivoting of a transfer arm, and this leads to a verymuch complicated construction.

Also, in the device disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent ApplicationNo. 99548/1975 (corresponding British Patent No. 1,485,476), the sheetprocessing device including a staple device is very much complicated.That is, sheets are aligned in the upper tray and fall onto the lowertray, and are stapled in an obliquely standing state. The stapler movesto the bottom of the lower tray in response to the staple signal andbinds the sheets. After the binding, the stapler moves along a shaft andopens the bottom of the lower tray. Accordingly, the bound bundle ofsheets falls.

On the other hand, there are known several aligning means for aligningsheets in automatic sheet processing devices.

a. Alignment by Vibration

The tray is finely vibrated while sheets are conveyed into the tray andby the vibration, the sheets are moved relative to the two right-angledside plates of the tray as sheet alignment rulers and are aligned withone another.

However, according to this system, the addition of the vibratingmechanism for imparting vibration to the tray leads to the complication,bulkiness and increased cost of the device and it is difficult to set aproper vibration amplitude and frequency. Also, there are numerousproblems such as the creation of abnormal sound by the vibration and theadverse effect of the propagation of the vibration to the sheetoutputting apparatus side (for example, the reduced quality of theformed image caused by the vibration where the sheet outputtingapparatus is an image forming apparatus), and such system isinappropriate as the sheet collecting tray device for an image formingapparatus such as a copying apparatus.

b. Alignment by a Drive Belt

One of the two right-angled side plates of the tray as sheet alignmentrulers is made into a rotating belt and one of the two right-angled sideedges of sheets is brought into contact with the rotating belt sideplate and the sheets are moved toward the other side plate and therebyaligned with one another.

Again in this case, the addition of the rotating belt mechanism leads tothe complication, bulkiness and increased cost of the device, and it isdifficult to set a proper material for the belt with the frictioncoefficient thereof taken into account, and the belt is liable to bedeteriorated with time.

c. Alignment by a Paddle

A rotatable member (paddle) comprising radially mounted flexible vanesof a frictional material such as rubber sheet pieces is rotated with thevanes brought into contact with the upper surface of sheets dischargedinto the tray, whereby the sheets are moved toward the two right-angledside plates as sheet alignment rulers and are aligned with one another.

However, again in this case, the addition of the paddle mechanism leadsto the complication, bulkiness and increased cost of the device, andsound is created by the vanes striking the upper surface of the sheets.

d. Alignment by an Inclined Tray

A tray is disposed in a posture inclined forwardly upwardly or forwardlydownwardly with respect to a sheet discharge port portion for the trayand leftwardly downwardly or rightwardly downwardly with respect to thelateral direction of the tray, and sheets discharged into the tray arecaused to slide down from gravity due to the inclined posture of thetray and the two right-angled side edges on the sliding down side of thesheets are stopped by two right-angled side plates as sheet alignmentrulers disposed on the sheet sliding-down side of the tray and arethereby aligned with one another.

This aligning system suffices if the tray is disposed in a postureinclined at a suitable angle and therefore, it can constitute a sheetcollecting tray device having the sheet aligning function which issimple, noise-free, compact and inexpensive and therefore practical.

The present invention also relates to improvements in the automaticsheet processing device endowed with the sheet aligning function by theinclined tray system mentioned under item d above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the above-noted pointsand an object thereof is to provide an automatic sheet processing deviceof the described type which has versatility permitting the device to bewidely used in combination with the existing sheet outputtingapparatuses of various types and which is high in reliability andcompact and low in cost.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an automaticsheet processing device which ensures sheets discharged from a sheetoutputting apparatus to be properly aligned on a tray and permits abundle of sheets bound in a properly aligned state to be automaticallybound at a corner thereof.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide anautomatic sheet processing device which permits a bundle of sheets boundin a properly aligned state to be automatically discharged.

The present invention has achieved the above-described objects by thefollowing constructions.

That is, an automatic sheet processing, device of the present inventionis constructed such that a sheet collecting tray is disposed in aposture inclined forwardly upwardly or forwardly downwardly arerightwardly downwardly or leftwardly downwardly with respect to a sheetdischarge port portion, sheet aligning means is provided for stoppingthe two side edges on the sliding-down side of sheets discharged intosaid tray and sliding down in said tray due to the inclination of saidtray and aligning the sheets with one another and bookbinding meansoperates at a predetermined point of time after a predetermined numberof sheets have been put out from the sheet outputting apparatus intosaid tray and binding a bundle of aligned sheets in said tray at acorner thereof. This construction leads to the provision of an automaticsheet processing device of this type in which alignment and binding ofsheet are ensured and which is high in reliability.

Further, an automatic sheet processing device of the present inventionis constructed such that a sheet collecting tray is rockably supportedfor receiving sheets output from a sheet outputting apparatus, trayrocking means is provided for selectively changing over said tray to afirst posture in which it is capable of receiving the output sheets fromthe sheet outputting apparatus and a second posture which is moresteeply inclined than said first posture and in which it causes thebundle of sheets to be discharged out of said tray, sheet aligning meansis provided for aligning the sheets successively discharged into andpiled in said tray in said first posture, bookbinding means is providedfor binding the bundle of aligned sheets in said tray after apredetermined number of sheets has been output into said tray from thesheet outputting apparatus, and drive means is provided for operatingsaid tray rocking means on the basis of the operation completion signalof said bookbinding means to change over said tray to said secondposture.

Furthermore, an automatic sheet processing device of the presentinvention is constructed such that a sheet collecting tray is disposedin a posture inclined forwardly upwardly or forwardly downwardly andrightwardly downwardly or leftwardly downwardly with respect to a sheetdischarge port portion for receiving sheets put out from a sheetoutputting apparatus, said tray being rockably supported, tray rockingmeans is provided for selectively changing said tray to a first posturein which it is capable of receiving the output sheets from the sheetoutputting apparatus and a second posture more steeply inclined thansaid first posture, sheet aligning means is provided for stopping thetwo side edges on the sliding-down side of the sheets successivelydischarged into said tray in said first posture and piled therein andaligning the sheets with one another, bookbinding means operates at apredetermined point of time after a predetermined number of sheets havebeen put out from the sheet outputting apparatus into said tray andbinding a bundle of aligned sheets in said tray, and said tray ischanged over to said second posture by said tray rocking means so thatthe bound bundle of sheets in said tray is slidingly discharged out ofsaid tray.

These constructions as described above lead to the possibility ofproviding at a low cost a versatile, practical, automatic sheetprocessing device of this type which is generally simple in structure,compact and high in reliability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the automaticsheet processing device according to the present invention as mounted tothe sheet output port portion of a sheet outputting apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the chassis of the device.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the device.

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the device.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a tray rocking mechanism portion.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross-sectional views of first and second sheetaligning ruler plates, respectively.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional side view of a staplermechanism portion.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are a front view and a longitudinal cross-sectional sideview, respectively of a stapler head portion and FIG. 8C is alongitudinal cross-sectional side view of the stapler head portion whena needle is depressed.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a paper keeping member.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the paper keeping member.

FIG. 11 illustrates the sheet aligning process of the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a front view of a sheet warping roller portion of the firstembodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of the operation of the device according to thefirst embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the automaticsheet processing device according to the present invention as mounted tothe sheet output port portion of a sheet outputting apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the sheet collecting tray of FIG. 14 accordingto the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the same tray.

FIG. 17 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the same tray.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of the sheet collecting tray according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the same tray.

FIG. 20 illustrates the process of alignment of sheets in the tray ofthe third embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the automaticsheet processing device according to the present invention as mounted tothe sheet output port portion of a sheet outputting apparatus.

FIG. 22 is a plan view of the sheet collecting tray according to thefourth embodiment.

FIG. 23 shows an example in which a sheet guide plate is warped so as towarp sheets.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the chassis.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention will hereinafter be described specifically with respect tosome embodiments thereof shown in the drawings.

In a first embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1generally designates an automatic sheet processing device, referencenumeral 100 denotes a sheet outputting apparatus, and reference numeral150 designates a pedestal on which the sheet outputting apparatus isinstalled. In the present example, it is to be understood that the sheetoutputting apparatus 100 is a copying apparatus. Reference numeral 101designates a sheet output port (sheet discharge port) elongatedly formedin the left end plate 102 of the housing of the copying apparatus, andreference numeral 103 denotes sheet discharging pinch rollers disposedinside and near the sheet output port 101. Copy sheets subjected to theimage formation process by an unshown image formation process mechanismcontained in the housing of the copying apparatus are discharged by thesheet discharging pinch rollers 103 and are output out of the apparatusthrough the output port 101.

(1) Outline of the Construction of the Automatic Sheet Processing Device1

The device 1 according to the present embodiment is designed such thatsheet alignment is effected by an inclined tray 6 and first and secondsheet aligning ruler plates 7 and 8 disposed at right angles to eachother and bookbinding is effected by stapling, and generally comprisesthe following members and mechanisms assembled to a device chassis 2:

a. a pair of upper and lower sheet guide plates 3 and 3 for receivingsheets P output from the sheet output port 101 of the copying apparatus100 and guiding them forwardly;

b. sheet discharging pinch rollers 4 and 5 disposed at the fore endportion of the sheet guide plates;

c. a sheet collecting tray 6 disposed in an inclined posture forreceiving the sheets discharged from the pinch rollers;

d. first and second sheet aligning ruler plates 7 and 8 disposed atright angles to each other which cooperate with the inclined tray toalign the sheets discharged into the tray one after another and piledthereon so that the corresponding right-angled side edges of the sheetsare arranged properly;

e. a tray rocking mechanism 9 for rockably supporting the tray andselectively changing over the tray into a first and a second inclinedposture;

f. a stapler mechanism 10 for stapling (bookbinding) a bundle of sheetsalinged and piled in the tray; and

g. an electric circuit, a cable (signal transmitting and receiving line)for connecting the electric circuit to the electric circuit on thecopying apparatus 100 side, etc.

(2) Device Chassis 2 (FIG. 2)

The device chassis 2 comprises chiefly a vertical back plate portion 2aof a size extending substantially over both of the left end plate 102which is the sheet output port side of the copying apparatus 100 and theleft end plate 151 of the pedestal 150 on which the copying apparatus isinstalled, and is provided with left and right side plate portions 2band 2c projected forwardly on the upper portions of the left and rightside edges of the vertical back plate portion 2a, a laterally elongatedintermediate ledge plate portion 2d disposed at a position slightlyabove the intermediate portion of the vertical back plate portion 2a andextending substantially transversely of the back plate from the leftside edge to the right side edge of the back plate, a forwardlyprojecting cross arm portion 2e formed at the left end of andcontiguously to the intermediate ledge plate portion, a wide ledge plateportion 2f formed at the right end of and contiguously to theintermediate ledge plate portion, a laterally elongated window hole 2gformed in the portion of the vertical back plate portion 2a which isadjacent to the upper edge thereof, and vertically extending screwreceiving slots 2h formed at the four corners of the substantially lowerhalf portion of the vertical back plate portion 2a.

The intermediate ledge plate portion 2d, the cross arm portion 2econtiguous thereto at the left end thereof and the wide ledge plateportion 2f at the right end thereof are generally disposed in a postureforwardly upwardly inclined at an angle α₁ with respect to the verticalback plate portion 2a and rightwardly downwardly inclined at an angleβ₁, in the relation with the inclination of the tray which will later bedescribed.

(3) Sheet Guide Plates 3, 3 and Sheet Discharging Pinch Rollers 4, 5(FIGS. 1, 3 and 4).

Sheet guide plates 3 and 3 are for receiving the sheets P output fromthe sheet output port 101 of the copying apparatus 100 and guiding theleading end edge of the sheets to the nip between the sheet dischargingpinch rollers 4 and 5, and are disposed between the left and right sideplates 2b and 2c of the chassis with their opposite end portions fixedto the inner sides of the chassis side plates.

The sheet discharging pinch rollers 4 and 5 are disposed adjacent to thefore end edge of the sheet guide plates 3 and 3 and serve to nip thesheets fed through the gap path between the guide plates 3 and 3 anddischarge them into the tray 6 which will later be described. In thepresent embodiment, the lower rollers 4 are drive rollers and the upperrollers 5 are follower rollers, and three such drive rollers 4 aresupported on a rotary shaft 11 rotatably journalled to the left andright side plates 2b and 2c of the chassis and rotatively driven by amotor M1 mounted and supported outside the left side plate 2b of thechassis, at predetermined intervals along the length of the rotaryshaft. The follower rollers 5 corresponding to the respective driverollers 4 are rotatably supported on the fore ends of support arms 12each formed of a spring plate and having the base thereof secured to astay 13 disposed between the left and right side plates 2b and 2c of thechassis, as by screws, and are normally brought into contact with theupper surface of the drive rollers 4 by the downward biasing force ofthe spring plate support arms 12.

The path formed by the upper and lower sheet guide plates 3 and 3 maypreferably be a small gap path of about 1-2 mm to prevent flapping ofthe sheets between the two guide plates. Also, the sheet guide platesmay preferably be formed with vent holes or be formed or wire-likemembers, mesh members or the like as long as the sheet conveyance is nothampered, in order to prevent condensation of the water vapor createdfrom the sheets passing between the sheet guide plates and to preventthe hindrance of sheet conveyance by the condensation.

The peripheral speed of rotation of the sheet discharging pinch rollers4 and 5 is made more or less higher than that of the sheet dischargingpinch rollers 103 of the copying apparatus 100 to prevent slack of thesheets between the sheet guide plates 3 and 3, and the nip pressure ofthe pinch rollers 4 and 5 is set more weakly than that of the pinchrollers 103 of the copying apparatus 100.

The tray 6, as previously described, is forwardly upwardly inclined withrespect to the sheet discharge port portion 4, 5 and is also rightwardlydownwardly inclined and therefore, the head distance l_(R) between theright end side of the sheet outlet and the right side edge of the trayis greater than the head distance l_(L) (FIG. 4) between the left endside of the sheet discharge port portion with respect to the lengthwisedirection of the sheet outlet and the left side edge of the tray.Therefore, if the sheet P fed out from the sheet discharge port portion4, 5 into the tray 6 is weakened in rigidity, for example, under theenvironment of high temperature and high humidity or the sheet P isoriginally weak in rigidity, the degree of downward curvature of theportion of the sheet P which has been fed out from the sheet dischargeport portion 4, 5 toward the tray 6 by an amount corresponding to acertain length becomes great, and the left corner P₁ of the leading endedge of the sheet enters the surface of the tray 6 at an acute anglebecause the head distance l_(L) with respect to the tray is relativelysmall, but the right corner P₂ of the leading end edge of the sheet isliable to enter the surface of the tray 6 at an obtuse angle θ' or at anangle approximate to 90° as indicated by dots-and-dash line in FIG. 3because the head distance l_(R) with respect to the tray is great.

In such a case, the leading end portion of the sheet which is in contactwith the surface of the tray 6 does not continuedly slide up along theforwardly upwardly inclined surface toward the fore end edge of the trayand as a result, the sheet P is reversed and discharged into the tray 6.

Such reversal discharge trouble of sheets may also occur in a traydevice of the type in which the tray 6 is forwardly downwardly inclined.

Therefore, in the device of the present embodiment, to eliminate thesheet reversal discharge trouble resulting from the cause as describedabove, a member for upwardly warping that side edge portion of the sheetfed out from the sheet outlet of the sheet discharge port portion withrespect to the tray toward the tray which corresponds to the laterallyinclined lower side of the tray is disposed at the sheet outlet.

In FIGS. 1, 4 and 12, reference numeral 50 designates a roller disposedas the sheet warping member. This roller 50 is fitted on the portion ofthe pinch roller driving shaft 11 between the sheet discharging pinchrollers 4 and 5 which is nearest to the sheet conveyance standard lineR--R (FIG. 11) so as to regulate any shift movement along the shaft 11by snap rings 51 and 51 and to be rotatable about the shaft 11, and theouter diameter thereof is made suitably greater than the outer diameterof the driving roller 4 of the pinch rollers 4 and 5. The roller 50 maybe rotatably mounted on the shaft 11 through a bearing.

Thus, that side edge of the sheet P fed out from the sheet outlet of thesheet discharge port portion to the tray 6 which corresponds to thelaterally inclined lower side of the tray, in the present example, theright side edge of the sheet, passes over the roller 50 correspondinglyto the roller 50. Since, as described above, the diameter of the roller50 is suitably greater than the diameter of the driving roller 4 of thesheet discharging pinch rollers, the right side edge of the sheet Ppasses over the roller 50 while being upwardly warped as indicated at Pcin FIGS. 4 and 12 against the resiliency in the range of resiliency ofthe sheet due to the diameter difference in the process wherein itpasses over the roller 50. On the basis of the riblike effect of theupward warp Pc of the sheet over the roller 50, even if the sheet P isweakened in rigidity by moisture absorption or the like or the sheet Pis originally weak in rigidity, the great downward curvature of thatportion of the sheet which has been fed out from the sheet outlet towardthe tray 6 by an amount corresponding to a certain length is alleviatedand the angle of entry θ of the sheet with respect to the surface of thetray 6 is secured at an acute angle over the full length of the leadingend edge of the sheet, whereby the aforementioned sheet reversaldischarge trouble can be eliminated. Here, it should be noted that sucha device for eliminating the sheet reversal discharge trouble may beoptionally employed in the automatic sheet processing device.

(4) Sheet Collecting Tray 6 and its Rocking Mechanism 9 (FIGS. 1 and3-5)

The tray 6 has its back side supported for leftward and rightwardrocking movement about a shaft bar 15 through bearing members 16 and 16,the shaft bar 15 having its base firmly held by a fixing support member14 at a position slightly more toward the left end than the intermediateposition of the intermediate ledge plate portion 2d of the chassis onthe back side of the ledge plate and forwardly upwardly inclined at anangle α₁. Thus, the tray 6 is normally subjected to the tension of atension spring 17 (FIGS. 1 and 5) extended between a lug 2i formed onthe cross arm 2e of the chassis and the back side near the left sideedge of the tray 6 and is biased counterclockwise about the shaft bar15, and is normally stopped with the back side of the left side edge ofthe tray finally bearing against the upper surface of the cross arm 2eof the chassis and is held in a posture forwardly upwardly inclined atan angle α₁ and rightwardly downwardly inclined at an angle β₁. Thisposture will hereinafter referred to as the first posture. The angle offorwardly upward inclination α₁ and the angle of rightwardly downwardinclination β₁ in the first posture of the tray 6 are set, for example,to the ranges of 23°-26° and 6°-10°, respectively.

Reference numeral 18 designates a tray rocking cam. This cam is securedat a right angle to the fore end of the forwardly projecting rotaryshaft 19 of a reversible pulse motor M2 fixedly disposed on the backside of the intermediate ledge plate portion 2d of the chassis at aposition near the left end of this ledge plate, and is changed over fromits leftward sideways facing posture indicated by solid in FIG. 5 to itsupwardly rotated posture indicated by dots-and dash line in FIG. 5 bythe forward revolution or reverse revolution control of the motor M2 byabout 90°, and is again returned to its sideways facing posture. Whenthis cam 18 is in its sideways facing posture, it is not in contact withthe tray 6 and the tray 6 is kept in said first posture, but when thecam 18 is changed over to its upwardly rotated posture by the forwardrevolution driving of the motor M2 by about 90°, the tip end of the camcomes into contact with the back side of the left corner of the rear endedge of the tray and pushes it in a push-up direction, so that the tray6 is pivoted clockwise about the shaft bar 15 against the force of thetension spring 17 and is changed over to and held in a posture indicatedby dots-and-dash line in FIG. 5 in which it is rightwardly downwardlyinclined at an angle β' greater than the angle of rightwardly downwardinclination in the first posture. This posture will hereinafter bereferred to as the second posture. When the cam 18 in this upwardlyfacing posture is again changed over to its sideways facing posture bythe reverse revolution driving of the motor M2 by about 90°, the tray inthe second posture returns to the first posture.

The tray rocking mechanism 9, in the present embodiment, refers to theentire mechanism comprising the tray supporting shaft bar 15, thetension spring 17, the cam 18, the motor M2, etc.

(5) Sheet Aligning Ruler Plates 7, 8 (FIGS. 1-6 and 11)

The sheet aligning ruler plates 7 and 8 are members for stopping the tworight-angled side edges of the sliding-down side of sheets dischargedinto the tray 6 in the first posture and sliding down in the tray due tothe inclination of the tray, namely, in the present example, thetrailing end edge P_(B) (FIG. 11) and the right side edge P_(R) of thesheets, and aligning the sheets discharged one after another into thetray and piled therein. It is to be understood that the ruler plate 7for stopping the trailing end edge P_(B) of the sheets is a first sheetaligning ruler plate and the ruler plate 8 for stopping the right sideedge P_(R) of the sheets is a second sheet aligning ruler plate.

The first ruler plate 7 is mounted and supported along the fore end edgeof the intermediate ledge plate portion 2d of the chassis through abracket 20 (FIGS. 2 and 3), and the second ruler plate 8 has its rearend portion firmly mounted and supported on the fore end portion of thewide ledge plate portion 2f of the chassis in a cantilever fashionthrough a bracket 21. The two ruler plates 7 and 8 are at right anglesto each other. The right corner of the rear end edge of the tray 6 isobliquely chamfered (FIGS. 1 and 11), and the right end of the firstruler plate 7 and the rear end of the second ruler plate 8 only extendto the position corresponding to the chamfered portion of the tray anddo not meet each other, and that portion provides an opening portion 22.

Both of the first and second ruler plates 7 and 8 have their lower edgeportions inwardly bent at a right angle to form narrow overhanging edges7a and 8a. Thus, in the first posture, the tray 6 is positioned so thatas shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the rear end edge 6_(B) thereof correspondsto the lower narrow overhanging edge 7a of the first ruler plate 7through a slight gap d1 and the right side edge 6_(R) thereofcorresponds to the lower narrow overhanging edge 8a of the second rulerplate 8 through a slight gap d2 which permits pivoting of the tray.Also, the first and second ruler plates 7 and 8 are constructed in sucha relation that a step W is created so that the upper surfaces 7a' and8a' of the lower narrow overhanging edges 7a and 8a of the first andsecond ruler plates 7 and 8 underly the upper surface 6' of the tray 6at this time.

Therefore, the stagnation of the sheet in the course of its sliding downalong the tray caused by the edge of the sheet entering the boundary gapd2 or d1 between the tray and the ruler plates before the right sideedge P_(R) or the trailing end edge P_(B) of the sheet discharged intothe tray and having slidden down along the surface of the tray (thefirst discharged sheet) bears against the inner surfaces of the secondand first alinging ruler plates 8 and 7 is prevented and alignment ofsheets is ensured.

(6) Stapler Mechanism 10 (FIGS. 1 and 7-10)

The stapler mechanism 10 comprises a stapler body 23 provided above thewide ledge plate portion 2f of the chassis and a driving mechanismportion assembled to the lower side of the same ledge plate portion 2f.

The stapler body 23 is connected to the rear end portion of a channeltype guide member 24 for vertical rocking movement about a shaft 25, theguide member 24 being fixedly positioned with its lengthwise axisextending on the upper surface of the wide ledge plate portion 2f of thechassis toward the opening portion 22 between the first and second rulerplates 7 and 8, and is normally biased upwardly relative to the guidemember 24 by a torsion spring 26 fitted to the shaft 25 and stretchedbetween the guide member 24 and the stapler body 23.

The stapler body 23 comprises a box-shaped head portion 27 provided atthe fore end portion thereof and having its upper surface opened, astaple needle loading guide groove portion 28, a needle pushing member30 for normally pushing the rear end of a series of staple needles 29loaded into the groove portion 28 to thereby press the fore end of thestaple needles 29 against the outer surface of the opposed side wall 27aof the head portion 27, a spiral spring biasing the needle pushingmember 30 and having one end thereof restrained by the stapler body, adownwardly facing, substantially U-shaped staple needle striking member32 put on the head portion 27 and slidable up and down relative to thehead portion 27, and a coil spring 33 compressedly disposed between thehead portion 27 and the striking member 32.

The striking member 32 is formed by bending a band plate into a U-shapeand is inverted and put on the head portion 27 so as to hold the stapleneedle stopping side wall 27a of the head portion 27 and the front wall27 of the head opposite thereto between its downwardly facing leg plates32a and 32b. The front wall 27b of the head is formed with alongitudinally extending slit hole 27c as shown in the enlarged views ofFIGS. 8A-8C, and at a position near the lower side of the downwardlyfacing leg plate 32b of the striking member which corresponds to thefront wall 27b of the head, an obliquely upwardly extending pawl 32cprojecting toward the inside of the leg plate is formed and fitted inthe slit hole 27c of the head portion 27. Also, side walls 32d and 32eare regulated by 27e and 27f and therefore, there is no lateral shiftmovement and these side walls are slidable up and down relative to thehead portion 27 and the pawl 32c is normally stopped by bearing againstthe upper edge of the slit hole 27c due to the pushing-up force of thecompressed coil spring 33 and is held in an upwardly raised positionrelative to the head portion 27 until it is stopped in the upwardlyraised position relative to the head portion 27.

The spring pressure F26 of the torsion spring which biases the staplerbody 23 so as to open and rotate about the shaft 25 relative to theguide member 24 and the spring pressure F33 of the coil spring 33compressedly disposed between the head portion 27 and the strikingmember 32 are set to a relation that F26<<F33.

Reference numeral 34 designates an L-shaped stapler body pushing-downlever having a sideways facing arm 34a and a downwardly facing arm 34band pivotable about a shaft 35. A lug 34c adapted to bear against theupper surface of the striking member 32 of the stapler body is laterallyformed at the fore end portion of the sideways facing arm 34a, and thelower side of the downwardly facing arm 34b projects from a slit hole 2j(FIG. 2) formed in the surface of the wide ledge portion 2f of thechassis toward the portion below the ledge portion 2f.

M3 designates a stapler driving reversible motor mounted on the surfaceof the vertical back plate 2a of the chassis, reference numeral 37denotes a pivotable arm having its base secured to the rotary shaft 36of the motor M3, reference numeral 38 designates a cam plate alsosecured to the shaft 36, and MS1 and MS2 denote first and secondmicroswitches adapted to be closed and opened with rotation of the camplate 38. The pivotable arm 37 is formed with a slot 37a extending alongthe length thereof, and a pin shaft 34d studded in the lower end portionof the downwardly facing arm 34b of the L-shaped lever 34 is fitted inthe slot 37a to thereby interconnect the pivotable arm 37 and theL-shaped lever 34.

The pivotable arm 37 normally stands by at its leftwardly obliquelyupwardly rotated angular position as indicated by solid line in FIG. 7.During this condition, the first microswitch MS1 is held in its OFFposition by the cam plate 38 and the second microswitch MS2 is held inits ON position, and the L-shaped lever 34 is pivoted clockwise aboutthe shaft 35 and the sideways facing arm 34a thereof is held in itsleftwardly obliquely upwardly rotated angular position. The stapler body23 is held in a state in which it has been opened and rotated about theshaft 25 relative to the guide member 24 by the opening-rotating forceof the torsion spring 26 until the upper surface of the striking member32 bears against the lower surface of the lug 34c of the sideways facingarm 34a and is stopped thereby. The above-described state willhereinafter be referred to as the stapler stand-by state.

The sheets successively discharged from the copying apparatus 150 intothe tray 6 of the automatic sheet processing device 1 have the passageof their trailing end edge through the output port 101 of the copyingapparatus or through the sheet discharge port portion 4, 5 of theautomatic sheet processing device detected by a sheet sensor S (FIG. 3)and, with the detection signal as the starting point, the forwardrevolution driving of the motor M3 is started by the control circuitafter the lapse of a predetermined delay time T required for the copysheet discharged into the tray 6 to be completely aligned in the tray.By this forward revolution driving of the motor M3, the pivotable arm 37and the cam plate 38 are rotatively driven clockwise as viewed in FIG.7. Along therewith, the L-shaped lever 34 also is rotatively drivencounterclockwise about the shaft 35 against the force of the torsionspring 26 while depressing the stapler body 23. The first microswitchMS1 is held in its ON position by the starting of the rotation of thecam plate 38. The second microswitch MS2 remains in its ON position fora little while thereafter, and assumes its OFF position when thepivotable arm 37 has come to its nearly vertical rotated angularposition 37' indicated by dot-and-dash line. At this time, the staplerbody 23 is depressed and rotated by the L-shaped lever 34 to a positionin which the underside of the head portion 27 thereof bears against astaple needle receiving seat 39 disposed in place on the upper surfaceof the wide ledge portion 2f of the chassis (the position indicated bydot-and-dash line 23' in FIG. 7). During this state, the striking member32 is still raised by the coil spring 33 and does not yet come to act onthe foremost one of the staple needles 29 loaded into the stapler body23. This depressed state of the stapler will hereinafter be referred toas the first stage depression.

The motor M3 is changed over to the reverse revolution at a point oftime whereat the second microswitch MS2 has assumed its OFF position,and the pivotable arm 37 pivots back counterclockwise until the firstmicroswitch MS1 assumes its OFF position again, and thus the staplerreturns to its initial stand-by condition. The first stage depressionand return to the stand-by condition of the stapler are repeatedlyexecuted each time a copy sheet is output or discharged from the copyingapparatus 100 into the tray 6.

By the repetition of the first stage depression and return of thestapler, each time a copy sheet is discharged from the copying apparatus100 into the tray 6 and comes to its aligned position, the right cornerof the trailing end edge of the sheet projecting from the openingportion 22 between the first and second ruler plates 7 and 8 toward thewide ledge plate 2f of the chassis and positioned on the staple needlereceiving seat 39 is held between the needle receiving seat 39 and theunderside of the head portion 27 of the first-stage-depressed staplerbody 23, whereby mutual alignment of sheets is improved.

Reference numeral 40 (FIGS. 1, 9 and 10) designates a paper keepingbar-like member which may preferably be made of a resilient flexiblematerial and which has its base attached to the side surface of the headportion 27 of the stapler body 23 and which is disposed substantiallyparallel to the inner surface of the first sheet aligning ruler plate 7.This paper keeping member 40 moves up and down with the up and downmovement of the head portion 27 during the first stage depression andreturn cycle of the stapler and keeps the upper surface of the trailingend portion of the aligned sheets in the tray, and the paper keepingrange is widened by the presence of this paper keeping member 40 andeven in a case where sheets are curled, the curl of the sheets arecorrected by the paper keeping member, whereby mutual alignment of thesheets is further improved.

As regards the sheet keeping by the downward movement of the paperkeeping member 40, the alignment of the sheet relative to the secondruler plate 8 is further improved by adopting such as angled posturethat the fore end of the paper keeping member 40 first comes intocontact with the surface of the sheet, and then the side surface of thebase thereof progressively comes into contact with the surface of thesheet with the subsequent downward movement of the member 40 and finallythe underside of the member 40 generally comes into contact with thesurface of the sheet and keeps down the sheet. The reason for this isthat the member 40 presses the sheet toward the ruler plate 8.

When the successive discharging of copy sheets from the copyingapparatus 100 into the tray 6 progresses and the last copy sheet isoutput, a condition signal indicative of the fact that that copy sheetis the last one is input from the control circuit (not shown) of thecopying apparatus 100 to the control circuit (not shown) of theautomatic sheet processing device 1. After the lapse of a predetermineddelay time T after the passage of the trailing end edge of the last copysheet has been detected by a sensor S (FIG. 3), the forward revolutiondriving of the motor M3 is started as in the case of the precedingsheets and the depressing operation of the stapler body 23 is effected.In this case, however, even after the stapler assumes the first stagedepression state on the basis of the inputting of the aforementionedcondition signal and the second microswitch MS2 assumes its OFFposition, the pivotable arm 37 is a little more pivoted clockwise thanduring the first stage depression in spite of the OFF position of themicroswitch MS2 and assumes a substantially vertical rotation angularposition indicated by dots-and-dash line in FIG. 7, and the forwardrevolution driving of the motor M3 is continued until the firstmicroswitch MS1 also assumes its OFF position. In the counterclockwiserotation process of the L-shaped lever 34 resulting from the forwardrevolution driving of the motor M3 following the first stage depressionof the stapler, the striking member 32 of the stapler body 23 issufficiently depressed relative to the head portion 27 against the forceof the coil spring 33 (FIG. 8C). By this depression of the strikingmember 32, the foremost one of the staple needles 29 loaded into thestapler body 23 is pushed out from a needle push-out gap opening 27dtoward the needle receiving seat 39 by the lower edge of the downwardlyfacing leg plate 32a of the striking member 32, whereby the bundle ofsheets held between the underside of the head portion 27 and the needlereceiving seat 39 is staple-processed. The above-described depressedstate of the striking member will hereinafter be referred to as thesecond stage depression of the stapler.

At a point of time whereat the second stage depression of the staplerhas been effected and the first microswitch MS1 has assumed its OFFposition, the motor M3 is changed over to the reverse revolution and thestapler returns to the initial stand-by condition (the conditionindicated by solid lines in FIG. 7).

(7) Mounting of the Automatic Sheet Processing Device 1 to the CopyingApparatus 100 (FIG. 1)

Mounting of the automatic sheet processing device 1 to the copyingapparatus 100 which is the sheet outputting apparatus is done in thefollowing manner. First, the ordinary discharge sheet tray outwardlyprojectedly mounted in the sheet output port portion 101 on the left endplate side of the copying apparatus 100 is removed. Then, the set screws152 at the four corners which secure the left end plate 151 of thepedestal 150 on which the copying apparatus 100 is installed are onceremoved, and the set screws 152 are inserted into the slots 2h at thefour corners of the lower half of the vertical back plate 2a of thechassis of the device 1, and the left end plate 151 of the pedestal andthe lower half of the back plate 2a of the chassis of the device 1 aresecured to the pedestal body. In this case, the screws 152 are fastenedwith the vertical position of the device 1 relative to the copyingapparatus 100 adjusted by the utilization of the slots 2h so that theopening portion 2g formed in the vertical back plate 2a of the chassisof the device 1 faces the sheet output port 101 of the copying apparatus100 and the sheet receiving port of the pair of upper and lower sheetguide plates 3 and 3 of the device 1 faces the sheet discharging pinchrollers 103 of the copying apparatus 100.

Although not shown, the device 1 is provided with a cable (signal line)for connecting the electric circuit of the device 1 to the electriccircuit of the copying apparatus 100, and the device 1 and the apparatus100 is electrically connected together by inserting the end plug of thecable into the plug socket of the copying apparatus. Thus, mounting ofthe device 1 to the copying apparatus 100 is completed.

(8) Operation

a. Copying is started with the number of copies N per original and thenumber of necessary copies to be produced M set in the copying apparatus100. By the operation of the copying apparatus, copy sheets for thefirst original are output one after another from the sheet output port101 of the copying apparatus 100. The output sheets P pass through thegap path between the upper and lower guide plates 3 and 3 of the device1, are held by the nip of the sheet discharging pinch rollers 4 and 5,and are discharged by these pinch rollers into the tray 6 held in thefirst posture.

In the case of the present example, it is to be understood that thedischarge of sheets from the copying apparatus 100 into the tray 6 iseffected on the basis of the one side edge standard conveyance (sheetright side edge standard conveyance) with the broken line R--R (FIG. 11)near the right side edge of the tray as the standard line, irrespectiveof the size of the sheets.

b. A sheet P which has begun to be fed out toward the tray 6 by thepinch rollers 4 and 5, when fed out by an amount corresponding to acertain length, has its fed-out portion curved downwardly as indicatedby solid line in FIG. 3 due to the gravity thereof against the rigiditythereof, and since the tray 6 is rightwardly downwardly inclined, theleft corner P₁ of the leading end edge of the downwardly curved sheetportion comes into contact with the surface of the tray 6 at first (or,in the case of the second and subsequent sheets, comes into contact withthe upper surface of the sheet already discharged into the tray). Thethen angle of entry θ of the sheet into the surface of the tray 4 is anacute angle.

c. Then, with the subsequent feeding-out of the sheet P toward the tray6 by the pinch rollers 4 and 5, the leading end edge of the sheetsmoothly slides up along the forwardly upwardly inclined surface of thetray 6 toward the fore end of the tray by the sheet feeding force andthus, feeding of the sheet P into the tray progresses.

d. When the trailing end edge of the sheet P has passed through the nipof the pinch rollers 4 and 5, the sheet P as a whole is fully dischargedinto the tray 6 (solid line in FIG. 11).

e. The sheet P discharged into the tray 6 then naturally slides downalong the composite inclined surface of forwardly upward inclination orrearwardly downward inclination and rightwardly downward inclination inthe direction A (FIG. 11) toward the right corner of the rear end of thetray 6 due to the gravity thereof.

f. In the case of the present example, in the sliding-down process ofthe sheet P in the direction A, the right side edge P_(R) of the sheet Pfirst strikes against the inner surface of the second sheet aligningruler plate 8 and is position-controlled thereby (the state indicated bydots-and-dash line P" in FIG. 11).

g. Then, the sheet P" slide down along the second ruler plate 8 in thedirection B toward the first ruler plate 7, and the trailing end edgeP_(B) of the sheet strikes against the inner surface of the first rulerplate 7 and is position-controlled thereby (the state indicated bydots-and-dash line P'" in FIG. 11).

h. That is, the sheet P discharged into the tray 6 is finally receivedin the tray 6 with its right side edge P_(R) and trailing end edge P_(B)which are the two right-angled side edges on the sliding-down side beingstopped and positioned by the right-angled first and second ruler plates7 and 8 which are the aligning rulers. At this point of time, asdescribed under item (6) above, the stapler mechanism is only oncefirst-stage-depressed and returned to its initial position, whereby thekeeping of the sheet discharged into and aligned in the tray 6 isexecuted by the downward movement and return of the underside of thestapler head portion 27 and the paper keeping member 40.

i. Thus, the second and subsequent output sheets also are successivelydischarged, aligned, kept and piled in the tray 6 in the same process asthat described under items b-h above. The right corner of the trailingend edge of the bundle of sheets aligned in the tray 6 projects from theopening portion 22 between the first and second aligning ruler plates 7and 8 toward the wide ledge 2f of the chassis and is positioned on thestaple needle receiving seat 39.

j. At a point of time whereat the last copy sheet for the first originalis output and discharged into the tray 6 and becomes aligned in thetray, as described under item (6) above, the stapler mechanism issecond-stage-depressed and returned to its initial position, whereby thebundle of sheets in the tray has the right corner of its trailing endedge struck by a staple needle and is staple-processed(bookbinding-processed) (FIG. 8C).

k. When the stapler mechanism returns to its standby condition, themotor M2 of the tray rocking mechanism 9 is driven for forwardrevolution by about 90° on the basis of that signal and the cam 18assumes its upwardly rotated posture. Thus, the tray 6 is changed overfrom the first posture indicated by solid line in FIG. 5 to the secondposture indicated by dots-and-dash line in FIG. 5 which is greater inthe degree of rightward inclination than the first posture and a gapopening is created between the right side edge of the tray 6 and thelower edge of the second ruler plate 8, and the bundle of bookbound copysheets in the tray slides down rightwardly along the rightwardlyinclined surface of the tray from the gap opening and is automaticallydischarged and received into receiving container (stacker) 43 disposedon the sliding-down side, with the stapled side of the bundle as theleading end. By causing the stapled bundle of sheets to be dischargedfrom the tray 6 onto the stacker 43 with the stapled side thereof as theleading end, so called loosening of the sheets can be prevented.

l. After the lapse of a predetermined timer time (usually of the orderof one second) required for the bundle of bookbound sheets in the trayto be completely discharged out of the tray after the tray 6 has beenchanged over to the second posture, or after it has been detected by asensor (not shown) disposed at the entrance of the stacker 43 that thebundle of sheets has been discharged and received into the stacker, themotor M2 is driven for reverse revolution by about 90° and the tray 6 isagain changed over to the first posture.

m. Then, copy sheets for the second original are output one afteranother from the copying apparatus 100 to the device 1, and automaticalignment, automatic bookbinding and automatic discharging of the copysheets for the second original are effected in the same manner asdescribed above. Thus, finally, a bundle of M bound copy sheets isautomatically adjusted by the repetition cycle mentioned under items b-mabove and is received into the stacker 43.

FIG. 13 shows the flow chart of the above-described control sequence.

Other embodiments or modifications of the present invention will beexplained below.

FIG. 14 illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention.Members similar to those described in the first embodiment are givensimilar reference numerals and need not be described again.

The second embodiment is principally different from the first embodimentin construction of the sheet correcting tray 206. Such a sheetcorrecting tray 206 itself is conventional as mentioned above, and willbe briefly explained below referring to FIGS. 14 to 17.

In the case of the present example, the tray 206 is of the forwardlyupwardly inclined type and is disposed in a posture in which the rearend edge of the tray is positioned below the pinch rollers 4 and 5 whichare the sheet discharge port portion and is inclined at an angle α₂(FIG. 16) forwardly upwardly of the sheet discharge port portion and isinclined at an angle β₂ (FIG. 17) rightwardly downwardly with respect tothe widthwise direction of the tray as viewed from the fore end edge ofthe tray. The angle α₂ of forwardly upward inclination and the angle β₂of lateral inclination are set, for example, to the ranges of 23°-26°and 6°-10°, respectively.

Reference numerals 207 and 208 designate two right-angled side plates assheet alignment rulers constructed by bending the rear end edge portionof the tray 206 and the right side edge portion of the tray 206 upwardlyat a right angle with respect to the plate of the tray.

Thus, the output sheet P from the sheet outputting apparatus passesthrough the gap path between the upper and lower guide plates 3 and 3and is nipped by the nip of the sheet discharging pinch rollers 4 and 5and discharged into the tray 206.

The present embodiment does not have the tray rocking mechanism and theroller 50 as provided for the first embodiment. Therefore, the tray 206is constructed integrally with sheet alignment rulers 207, 208.

The stapler mechanism 10 as explained above is also provided for theautomatic sheet processing device 201 of the second embodiment. Thestapled sheets will be taken away from the tray 206 by hand. Since theother construction is as similar as that of the first embodiment,further explanation of the other is omitted.

FIGS. 18 to 20 illustrate a third embodiment of the present invention.Members similar to the first and the second embodiments are givensimilar numerals, and the explanation thereof is omitted.

There will be described only different points in construction from thefirst and the second embodiments.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 20, the side plate308 for the alignment ruler on the right side of the tray for aligningthe right side edge P_(R) of the sheet discharged into the tray isdisposed at an angle γ with respect to the direction of sheet conveyanceby the sheet discharging pinch rollers 4 and 5, i.e., the sheet one sideconveyance standard line R--R, and the other side plate 307 is disposedperpendicularly to the side plate 308.

That is, the sheet P fed out from the sheet discharge port into the tray306 is conveyed with its right side edge P_(R) substantially coincidentwith the sheet one side conveyance standard line R--R until the trailingend edge P_(B) of the sheet finishes passing between the sheetdischarging pinch rollers 4 and 5 (the state indicated by dot-and-dashline P' in FIG. 18). However, when the trailing end edge P_(B) of thesheet has finished passing between the pinch rollers 4 and 5 and fallsonto the tray 306, the sheet falls onto the tray while rotating aboutthe left corner of the leading end edge of the sheet which is already incontact with the surface of the tray because the tray 306 is inclinedforwardly upwardly by an angle α₃ and rightwardly downwardly by an angleβ₃, whereby the posture of the sheet P in the tray 306 when it hasfinished falling onto the tray is as indicated by solid line in FIG. 18wherein the right side edge P_(R) of the sheet is inclined by an angle γwith respect to the sheet one side conveyance standard line R--R. Theangle γ actually was about 5° when the angle of inclination α₃ of thetray 306 was α₃ =23°-26° and the angle β₃ was β₃ =6°-10° and thedistance over which the right corner of the trailing end edge of thesheet fell from the sheet discharge port was 75 mm. Therefore, in thepresent embodiment, with regard to the angle γ, the side plate 308 forthe alignment ruler on the right side of the tray was disposed whilebeing inclined with respect to the sheet one side conveyance standardline R--R so that the right side edge P_(R) of the sheet was in contactwith the side plate 308 in parallelism thereto over the full lengththereof. Also, as regards the trailing end edge P_(B) of the sheet, thesheet P" slides down in the direction B along the side plate 308 afterthe right side edge P_(R) of the sheet has been positionally controlledby the side plate 308, whereby the trailing end edge P_(B) contacts theside plate 307 in parallelism thereto.

In order to prevent the bound phenomenon of the sheet caused by theshock when the sheet discharged into the inclined tray slides down alongthe slope of the tray and strikes against the side plate of an alignmentruler and thereby ensure the alignment of the sheet, two right-angledside plates 307 and 308 for the sheet alignment ruler have a shockabsorbing material attached to the inner surface of at least one thereofor the side plates themselves are formed of a shock absorbing material.

In the present embodiment, as previously described, the sheet Pdischarged into the tray 306 and then sliding down along the slope ofthe tray has its right side edge P_(R) first striking against the sideplate 308 for the alignment ruler on the right side of the tray andsubjected to a positional control (the state indicated by dots-and-dashline P" in FIG. 18), and then that sheet slides down along the sideplate 308 in the direction B toward the rear side plate 307 of the traywhich is the other alignment ruler and the rear side edge P_(B) of thesheet strikes against the side plate 307 and is subjected to positionalcontrol and thereby aligned (the state indicated by dots-and-dash lineP'" in FIG. 18) and therefore, the right side plate 308 of the tray ismade into a surface of a material having a small friction coefficientsuch as a metal surface or a resin surface and the inner surface of therear side plate 307 of the tray has attached thereto a shock absorbingmaterial 307a such as Urethane Foam Sheet Seagull Suede (trade name) soas to alleviate the shock during the final striking.

Where discharge of sheets of various sizes into the tray 306 is effectedon the basis of one side standard conveyance which the right or leftside edge of the sheet as the standard, the inclination of the tray 306with respect to the lateral direction is made such that the sheetconveyance standard line side is lower. In the case of the presentembodiment, the inclination of the tray 306 with respect to the lateraldirection is made such that the sheet conveyance standard line R--R sideis lower. By doing so, even if the sizes of the sheets discharged intothe tray 306 variously differ, the distance between the two right-angledside edges P_(R), P_(B) of the sheet immediately after it has beendischarged into the tray 306 and the two right-angled side plates 308,307 as the sheet alignment rulers disposed on the sheet sliding downside of the tray is always substantially constant, and the sliding-downroute and manner of the sheet after it has been discharged into the tray306 and the time required for completion of alignment are the same forany of sheets of various sizes and thus, stable alignment of sheets canbe accomplished.

The angle formed between the two side plates 307 and 308 as the sheetalignment rulers is not set exactly to 90° but is set to a slightlysmaller angle, e.g., the order of 88°-89°, and by doing so, thepossibility of the trailing end edge P_(B) of the sheet P becomingdeviated after striking against the side plate 307 is eliminated (theaction of the sheet fitting between the ruler plates 307 and 308) andmore excellent mutual alignment of sheets can be obtained.

The automatic sheet processing device 301 is also provided with thestapler mechanism (not shown). The sheets stacked on the tray 306 arestapled by the stapler mechanism and taken away from the tray 306 byhand.

FIGS. 21 and 22 illustrate a fourth embodiment of the present inventionin which a tray 406 is inclined in three dimensions and rockablysupported.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 22, the second aligningruler plate 408 for aligning the right side edge P_(R) of the dischargedsheet in the tray is disposed at an angle γ with respect to thedirection of sheet conveyance by the sheet discharging pinch rollers 4and 5, i.e., the sheet one side conveyance standard line R--R, and thefirst aligning ruler plate 407 is disposed at a right angle with respectto the second ruler plate 408.

That is, the sheet P fed out from the sheet discharge port portion intothe tray 406 is conveyed with its right side edge P_(R) beingsubstantially coincident with the sheet one side conveyance standardline R--R until the trailing end edge P_(B) of the sheet passes betweenthe sheet discharging pinch rollers 4 and 5 (the state indicated bydot-and-dash line P' in FIG. 22). However, when the trailing end edgeP_(B) of the sheet has passed between the pinch rollers 4 and 5 andfalls onto the tray 406, the sheet falls onto the tray while rotatingabout the left corner P₁ of the leading end edge of the sheet which isalready in contact with the surface of the tray because the tray 406 isforwardly upwardly inclined at an angle α₄ and rightwardly downwardlyinclined at an angle β₄, whereby the posture of the sheet P in the trayat a point of time whereat the sheet has fallen into the tray 406 issuch that, as indicated by solid line in FIG. 22, the right side edgeP_(R) of the sheet is inclined at an angle γ with respect to the sheetone side conveyance standard line R--R. Actually, the angle γ was about5° when the angle of inclination α₄ of the tray 406 was α₄ =23°-26° andβ₄ =6°-10° and the distance of falling of the right corner of thetrailing end edge of the sheet from the sheet discharge port portion was75 mm. So, in the present embodiment, with regard to the angle γ, thesecond aligning ruler plate 408 for aligning the right side edge P_(R)of the sheet is pre-inclined with respect to the sheet one sideconveyance standard line R--R so that the right side edge P_(R) of thesheet is brought into contact with the second ruler plate 408 over thefull length thereof in parallelism thereto. Also, with regard to thetrailing end edge P_(B) of the sheet, the sheet P" slides down in thedirection B along the second ruler plate 408 after the right side edgeP_(R) of the sheet has been position-controlled by the ruler plate 408,whereby the trailing end edge P_(B) of the sheet contacts the firstruler plate 407 in parallelism thereto.

The automatic sheet processing device 401 of the fourth embodiment isalso provided with the stapler mechanism 10 and a tray rocking mechanism415 which are substantially same as those of the first embodiment.

FIG. 23' shows another embodiment of the mechanism for eliminating theaforementioned sheet reversal discharge trouble. In this embodiment, theright corners of the fore ends of the sheet guide plates 3 and 3 areupwardly curved to provide warps 3' and 3', and by these warps 3' and 3'of the guide plates, warp Pc can be imparted to the sheet as in the caseof said roller 50.

In the case of the present embodiments the sheet aligning mechanismcomprises the inclined trays, 6, 206, 306, 406, and the first and secondsheet aligning ruler plates 7 and 8 disposed at right angles to eachother, but alternatively, other aligning mechanism such as an aligningmechanism using vibration of the tray, an aligning mechanism using adriving belt or an aligning mechanism using a paddle may be adopted.

A bookbinding mechanism by starching may be provided instead of thebookbinding mechanism 10 by stapling. Further, any post-processingmechanism for a bundle of aligned sheets, such as a punching mechanism,may be provided.

The sheet guide plates 3 and 3 and sheet discharging pinch rollers 4 and5 of the device 1 need not always be disposed where the sheet dischargeport of the sheet outputting apparatus 100 can be positioned above thetray 6.

In the case of the first and fourth embodiments the first sheet aligningruler plate 7, 407 may be formed integrally with the rear side edge ofthe tray 6, 406.

The cam 18 for rocking the tray 6 can be rotated, for example, by anelectromagnetic solenoid-plunger or other suitable drive means.

The device 1 can also be made into a form of construction in which thenecessary constituent members and means such as the sheet receiving tray6, the sheet aligning means 7, 8 and the bookbinding means 10 areassembled in a predetermined positional relationship with the chassishaving in itself a self-supporting property on the floor or the pedestaland having an adjustable height and the device 1 is disposed adjacent tothe sheet output port 101 of the sheet outputting apparatus 100 with itsheight suitably adjusted so that the sheet receiving portion of thedevice is coincident with the sheet output port of the sheet outputtingapparatus 100 and is used in combination with the sheet outputtingapparatus.

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the chassis having a self-supportingproperty. The chassis 2 is adjustably assembled to a receiving plate302. The receiving plate 302 is provided with a support member 302a andis movable by a roller 302b. This chassis 2 is provided with a guide pin302c and may be positioned by the pin 302c being fitted into the guidehole 210a of the pedestal 210. Designated by 400 is a screw for fixingthe chassis 2 to the receiving plate 302.

I claim:
 1. A sheet collecting tray device comprising:a sheet collectingtray disposed in a posture inclined forwardly upwardly or forwardlydownwardly and rightwardly downwardly or leftwardly downwardly withrespect to a sheet discharge port portion for receiving sheets put outfrom a sheet outputting apparatus, said tray being rockably supported;tray rocking means for selectively changing said tray to a first posturein which it is capable of receiving the output sheets from the sheetoutputting apparatus and a second posture more steeply inclined thansaid first posture; sheet aligning means for stopping the two side edgeson the sliding-down side of the sheets successively discharged into saidtray in said first posture and piled therein and aligning the sheetswith one another; and binding means operating at a predetermined pointof time after a predetermined number of sheets have been put out fromthe sheet outputting apparatus into said tray and binding a bundle ofaligned sheets in said tray; said tray being changed over to said secondposture by said tray rocking means so that the bound bundle of sheets insaid tray is slidingly discharged out of said tray.
 2. An automaticsheet processing device according to claim 1, further comprising amember disposed in the sheet discharge port portion for said tray forwarping that side of the sheet fed out from said sheet discharge portportion into said tray which corresponds to the rightwardly orleftwardly downwardly inclined side of said tray.
 3. An automatic sheetprocessing device according to claim 2, wherein said member for warpingis a roller rotatably fitted on a pinch roller driving shaft provided inthe sheet discharge port portion.
 4. An automatic sheet processingdevice according to claim 10, wherein said member for warping is acorner of the fore end of a sheet guide plate and is upwardly warped. 5.An automatic sheet processing device according to claim 1, wherein saidsheet aligning means being inclined as viewed in the direction ofdischarge of the sheets so that the posture of the sheet in saidinclined tray at a point of time whereat the entire sheet fed out fromsaid sheet discharge port portion into said tray has been dischargedinto said tray and said sheet aligning means are substantially parallelto each other.
 6. An automatic sheet processing device comprising:asheet collecting tray rockably supported for receiving sheets outputfrom a sheet outputting apparatus; tray rocking means for selectivelychanging over said tray to a first posture in which it is capable ofreceiving the output sheets from the sheet outputting apparatus and asecond posture which is more steeply inclined than said first postureand in which it causes the bundle of sheets to be discharged out of saidtray; sheet aligning means for aligning the sheets successivelydischarged into and piled in said tray in said first posture; bindingmeans for binding the bundle of aligned sheets in said tray after apredetermined number of sheets has been output into said tray from thesheet outputting apparatus; and drive means for operating said trayrocking means on the basis of the operation completion signal of saidbinding means to change over said tray to said second posture.
 7. Anautomatic sheet processing device according to claim 6, wherein at leastone of said sheet aligning means being disposed discretely from saidtray, the lower side edge of said sheet aligning means discrete fromsaid tray being formed with an overhanging edge opposed to an end faceof said tray and facing said tray, the upper surface of said overhangingedge being disposed so as to underlie the upper surface of said tray. 8.An automatic sheet processing device according to claim 6, wherein thedischarge of the bound bundle of sheets from said tray is effected insuch a manner that the bound side thereof faces downwardly.
 9. Anautomatic sheet processing device according to claim 6, wherein saidbinding means is displaced to three positions i.e., a stand-by positionin which it does not act on the sheets in said tray, a first stagerocked position in which it contacts and holds down the sheets in saidtray but does not bind the bundle of sheets, and a second stage rockedposition in which it binds the bundle of sheets.
 10. An automatic sheetprocessing device according to claim 9, wherein said binding means iscontrolled so that each time a sheet is discharged into said tray, saidbinding means is displaced to said first stage rocked position to effectthe operation of holding down the sheets in said tray by said bindingmeans and said binding means is displaced to said second stage rockedposition after the last one of a predetermined number of sheets has beendischarged into said tray and aligned therein.
 11. An automatic sheetprocessing device according to claim 9, further comprising a sheetkeeping member supported and disposed on the side of said binding meanswherein said binding means is disposed to three positions i.e., astand-by position in which it does not act on the sheets in said tray, afirst stage rocked position in which it operates said sheet keepingmember to hold down the sheets in said tray but does not bind the bundleof sheets, and a second stage rocked position in which it binds thebundle of sheets.
 12. An automatic sheet processing device according toclaim 11, wherein said sheet keeping member is formed of a resilientmaterial.
 13. An automatic sheet processing device according to claim11, wherein said sheet keeping member presses the sheets and urges theside surface of the sheets against said sheet aligning means.
 14. Anautomatic sheet processing device according to claim 11, wherein saidbinding means is controlled so that each time a sheet is discharged intoand aligned in said tray, said binding means is displaced to said firststage rocked position to effect the operation of holding down the sheetsin said tray by said sheet keeping member and said binding means isdisplaced to said second stage rocked position after the last one of apredetermined number of sheets has been discharged into and aligned insaid tray.
 15. An automatic sheet processing device according to claim6, further comprising shock absorbing means provided in the innersurface of at least one of said sheet aligning means.
 16. An automaticsheet processing device according to claim 6, wherein the discharge ofthe sheets from said sheet discharge port portion into said tray iseffected by one side standard conveyance with the right side edge or theleft side edge of the sheet as the standard and said tray is inclined sothat the sheet conveyance standard line side is at a lower level.
 17. Anautomatic sheet processing device according to claim 6, wherein theangle forced by said sheet aligning means being set to an angle smallerthan a right angle.